Lions donate $20,000 to help ill babies

A $20,000 donation from the Victoria Central Lions Club will help fund an open care unit in the neonatal intensive care unit at Victoria General Hospital.

The open care unit is used to treat premature and critically ill babies in the NICU. The unit helps to stabilize and regulate a baby’s temperature, while providing caregivers with easier access to the baby for medical purposes.

“We are very happy being able to support this important equipment for neonatal intensive care at Victoria General,” said Chuck Mowbray, director of the Victoria Central Lions Club.

Each year in Victoria, 400 babies are born needing intensive care.

“Having access to equipment like this is crucial to providing our tiniest patients with the best possible treatment,” said Gord Macatee, chair of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.

The Victoria Central Lions Club will soon be closing down after 70 years in the community.

Since 1989, the club has donated more than $50,000 to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.